TY - JOUR
T1 - Inspiraling streams of enriched gas observed around a massive galaxy 11 billion years ago
AU - Zhang, Shiwu
AU - Cai, Zheng
AU - Xu, Dandan
AU - Shimakawa, Rhythm
AU - Battaia, Fabrizio Arrigoni
AU - Prochaska, Jason Xavier
AU - Cen, Renyue
AU - Zheng, Zheng
AU - Wu, Yunjing
AU - Li, Qiong
AU - Dou, Liming
AU - Wu, Jianfeng
AU - Zabludoff, Ann
AU - Fan, Xiaohui
AU - Ai, Yanli
AU - Golden-Marx, Emmet Gabriel
AU - Li, Miao
AU - Lu, Youjun
AU - Ma, Xiangcheng
AU - Wang, Sen
AU - Wang, Ran
AU - Yuan, Feng
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/5/5
Y1 - 2023/5/5
N2 - Stars form in galaxies, from gas that has been accreted from the intergalactic medium. Simulations have shown that recycling of gas—the reaccretion of gas that was previously ejected from a galaxy—could sustain star formation in the early Universe. We observe the gas surrounding a massive galaxy at redshift 2.3 and detect emission lines from neutral hydrogen, helium, and ionized carbon that extend 100 kiloparsecs from the galaxy. The kinematics of this circumgalactic gas is consistent with an inspiraling stream. The carbon abundance indicates that the gas had already been enriched with elements heavier than helium, previously ejected from a galaxy. We interpret the results as evidence of gas recycling during high-redshift galaxy assembly.
AB - Stars form in galaxies, from gas that has been accreted from the intergalactic medium. Simulations have shown that recycling of gas—the reaccretion of gas that was previously ejected from a galaxy—could sustain star formation in the early Universe. We observe the gas surrounding a massive galaxy at redshift 2.3 and detect emission lines from neutral hydrogen, helium, and ionized carbon that extend 100 kiloparsecs from the galaxy. The kinematics of this circumgalactic gas is consistent with an inspiraling stream. The carbon abundance indicates that the gas had already been enriched with elements heavier than helium, previously ejected from a galaxy. We interpret the results as evidence of gas recycling during high-redshift galaxy assembly.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85162154148&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85162154148&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/SCIENCE.ABJ9192
DO - 10.1126/SCIENCE.ABJ9192
M3 - Article
C2 - 37141364
AN - SCOPUS:85162154148
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 380
SP - 494
EP - 498
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 6644
ER -